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Watson Greenwell [ Watson Hutchinson Clark 1921]

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ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 25 Dec 2025 12:41

When you've had enough of Christmas TV, you might like to try solving this mystery, just for fun!

I found my distant relation Edward McGarva 1913 in Newcastle in 1939.
This query is NOT about him or his family.

I became intrigued by Watson Greenwell, a mystery man in the family with whom Edward was (presumably) boarding.
The family are not part of my tree - I'm just interested.

Henry Greenwell married Evelyn Hildrew in 1919 in Newcastle.
They had one child, Henry, sadly born and died in 1920.

Minnie Hildrew 1906 (mistranscribed as Maurice on Ancestry) was born illegitimately as Minnie Blair, and "adopted" by the Hildrew family, per 1921 census.

But who is Watson Greenwell ?? Born 14 Sept of unreadable year. - 1871? 1921?

He's not a child of Henry and Evelyn, and doesn't seem to be a brother of Henry, going by earlier censuses.


Watson Greenwell
in the 1939 England and Wales Register
Name Watson Greenwell
Gender Male
Marital Status Single
Birth Date 14 Sep
Residence Date 1939
Address 30 Gloucester Street
Residence Place Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England
Occupation Forge Labourer
Line Number 41
Schedule Number 16
Sub Schedule Number 3
Enumeration District Gaai
Borough Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Registration District 558-1
Inferred Father
Henry Greenwell
Inferred Mother
Evelyn Greenwell
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
Henry Greenwell Male 1896
Evelyn Greenwell Female 1900
Watson Greenwell Male
Maurice Hildrew Female 1906 [ Minnie, born Blair ]
Edward McGarva Male 1913


In 1921 Henry and Evelyn were at the same address, but nobody else with them.
30 Gloucester Street seems to have been four flats, as Evelyn's parents, and two other households (one of them her brother Robert and his wife), are also at that address.

Maddie

Maddie Report 26 Dec 2025 10:50

sorry cant see him anywhere
fmp has transcribed his bd as 1871

Henry Greenwell 17 Sep 1896 Male Carpenter (Ship Yard) Married 16 1
Evelyn Greenwell 15 Oct 1900 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 16 2
Watson Greenwell 14 Sep 1871 Male Forge Labourer Single 16 3
Minnie Blair (Hildrew) 30 Sep 1906 Female Domestic Servant Single 16 4
Edward McGarba 15 Mar 1913 Male Brass Turner Single 16 5

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 26 Dec 2025 11:00

No idea how FMP could transcribe a birth year - it’s illegible

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 26 Dec 2025 13:51

Perhaps he's a mistake by the enumerator, and wasn't a Greenwell at all.

He certainly doesn't seem to appear in any other record as Greenwell.

Thanks for looking, anyway!

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 26 Dec 2025 15:27

As he was a Forge Labourer in 1939, he was certainly an adult, but that’s about all one can deduce from the record

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 27 Dec 2025 00:27

???? 1939 enumerator's mistake?

Births Dec 1921 (>99%)
Greenwood Watson Ward Bradford 9b 207


Mr Watson Greenwood
in the England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2025
Name Mr Watson Greenwood
Gender Male
Age 86
Birth Date 14 Oct 1921 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Last Residence Betchworth, Surrey, England
Postal Code District Rh3
Death Date 28 Dec 2007


???
Watson. Greenwood
in the UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945
Name Watson. Greenwood
Rank Driver
Birth Date 1921
Award Date 26 Jan 1951
Applicant's Delivery Address 19 Peterborough Terr. Bardford Yorkshire
Service Group Number 42
Class of Release A
Service Number 10687976
Regiment R. E.
Stars/Medals Issued 1939-45; France & Germany; War

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 27 Dec 2025 10:23

Sorry, AG, but that one is on 1939 in Bradford, with his widowed mother

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 27 Dec 2025 10:50

Bother! Oh, well . . . . .


That's not showing up on Ancestry, which is why I hoped he was the man in Newcastle.

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 27 Dec 2025 12:30

1939 Register
259 Otley Road, Bradford, Bradford C.B., Yorkshire (West Riding), England

Watson Greenwood 14 Oct 1921 Male Engineering Laboratory Assistant Single 99 1
Eliza I Greenwood 02 Jun 1881 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Widowed 99 2
Frances E Robinson 05 Jan 1876 Female Textile Wool Rover Widowed 99 3
Robert Pollock 17 Jan 1891 Male Transport Manager Widowed 99 5

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 27 Dec 2025 12:35

Ancestry

Name Frances E Robinson
Gender Female
Marital Status Widowed
Birth Date 5 Jan 1876
Residence Date 1939
Residence Place Bradford, Yorkshire (West Riding), England
Occupation Textile Wool Rover
Line Number 44
Schedule Number 99
Sub Schedule Number 4
Enumeration District Kbmv
Borough Bradford
Registration District 498/3
Household Members (Name) Gender Birth Year
Eliza ?? Greenwood
Frances E Robinson Female 1876

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 27 Dec 2025 13:13

Thanks, ErikaH.
I've reported the omission of Watson from the transcription.

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 28 Dec 2025 15:44

Another possibility -

Watson Hutchinson Clark
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name Watson Hutchinson Clark
Death Age 81 [81]
Birth Date 14 Sep 1921 <<<<<<<<<<<<<
Registration Date Jul 2003
Registration District Newcastle Upon Tyne
Inferred County Tyne and Wear
Register Number C80C
District and Subdistrict 053/1C
Entry Number 82

He married Isabella Wishart in 1941.

In 1947 he and his wife are at - guess where - 30 Gloucester Street.
Evelyn, Henry, and Minnie are also still at that address.


Watson Hutchinson Clark
in the Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Electoral Registers, 1741-1974
Name Watson Hutchinson Clark
Residence Year 1947
Street Address 30 Gloucester Street
Residence Place Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, England
Register Register of Electors (Central)


Illegitimate birth:

CLARK, WATSON HUTCHINSON -
GRO Reference: 1921 D Quarter in SUNDERLAND Volume 10A Page 1540


I don't see him in 1939 as Clark.

alviegal

alviegal Report 28 Dec 2025 18:37

That really looks like that could be him AG....well done. Here's Isabella in 1939.

1939 Register
8 Harehills Avenue, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne C.B., Northumberland, England
Household members (6 people)
First name(s) Last name(s) Birth date Sex Occupation Marital status Schedule Schedule sub number
George Wishart 25 Oct 1892 Male General Labourer Married 171 1
Isabella Wishart 17 Feb 1895 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 171 2
>>Isabella Clarke (Wishart) 18 Aug 1920 Female Café Waitress Single 171 3
Annie Allar Elsender (Wishart) 16 Jan 1923 Female Café Waitress Single 171 4
Jane W Charlton (Wishart) 16 Aug 1924 Female Kitchen Maid Single 171 5

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 28 Dec 2025 20:06

Out of curiosity, I got his digital birth cert.

Watson Clark's mother was Hilda Jane Clark, 1894, whose mother's mn was Hutchinson.

Hilda is with her parents Thomas William and Elizabeth, and one of her sisters, in Frederick Street (which is where Watson was born) , Hylton, Durham in 1921, but I can't see any record of her after that.

She's in 6 Ancestry trees, none of which have any record of her after 1921 either.
They suggest she died in Bishop Auckland - but without date or proof - and there's no such record.

Hilda Clark is a very common name, all over the country.

alviegal

alviegal Report 29 Dec 2025 12:51

Just a maybe? Going backwards

Storey Hilda Jane 25/10/1894 1977 England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007
Durham Western, Durham, England

Hilda J Barrass married one of these people
James C Storey Marriage year 1959 Sunderland


Hilda J Clark married one of these people
Robert Barrass 1947 South Shields


EDIT Newspapers notices have James Storey and Sons, 51 Frederick Street, Sunderland - solicitors in the 1950s.

Again, no idea if they are linked.

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 29 Dec 2025 13:44

That's a good possibility, Alviegal.

It's a pity marriage certs aren't available digitally on GRO.

ErikaH

ErikaH Report 29 Dec 2025 14:46

No sign of Hilda in 1939..........annoying, as it would have confirmed DoB

Her widowed mother was living with Dorothy and her family.

One Ancestry tree has wrongly linked a London school admission record.......that is for a child with DoB 26/04/1895. Unsurprisingly, the tree 'owner' is American

ADDED

Just got digital image of her birth cert

25th October 1894 at 'Water Side', Hylton, registered by father

ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 29 Dec 2025 17:06

Excellent! Thanks, Alviegal and ErikaH.

1921 must have been a bad year for Hilda's parents.

Hilda's sister Dorothy also had an illegitimate child that year .

[**** EDIT: NO, THIS CHILD IS WATSON'S TWIN - see next post ]:

CLARK, DOROTHY FOSTER -
GRO Reference: 1921 D Quarter in SUNDERLAND Volume 10A Page 1539


Marriages Sep 1942 (>99%)
Clark Dorothy F Shotton S.Shields 10a 1755
Harper Dorothy Shotton S.Shields 10a 1755
Shotton William H F Clark S.Shields 10a 1755
Shotton William H F Harper S.Shields 10a 1755


Death:

Dorothy Foster Shotton
in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name Dorothy Foster Shotton
Death Age 56 [56]
Birth Date 14 Sep 1921 <<<<<<<<<<<<
Registration Date Jan 1978 [Feb 1978] [Mar 1978]
Registration Quarter Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration District Sunderland
Inferred County Tyne and Wear
Volume 2
Page 1686


ArgyllGran

ArgyllGran Report 30 Dec 2025 09:25

ADDED:

No, Dorothy 1921 is not Dorothy's daughter - she's Hilda's, and Watson's twin!

I thought it was far too much of a coincidence that young Dorothy and Watson should have the same birth date, so got her digital birth cert.

Dorothy was born at 1130, and Watson at 1215.

Dorothy senior must have "adopted" her, as the alternative surname Harper is on the 1942 marriage record.
Maybe Dorothy senior also looked after Watson.

Or maybe the Greenwells "adopted" him, hence his listing with their name in 1939.

alviegal

alviegal Report 30 Dec 2025 12:18

Thanks for that AG...enjoyed getting to use the old grey matter on something complicated like that, too bad they're not part of your family and if someone else is searching for that family in the future, they may have problems.

And I see you like a mystery as well ErikaH :-D